Oklahoma Braces For Another Winter Storm

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- What a tornado could not destroy last spring in the tiny town of Oaks in far northeast Oklahoma, last weekend's ice storm did.<br/> <br/>"A branch took my dashboard and put it

Friday, January 19th 2007, 11:17 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- What a tornado could not destroy last spring in the tiny town of Oaks in far northeast Oklahoma, last weekend's ice storm did.

"A branch took my dashboard and put it in my front seat," Garland Whorton said Friday. The 59-year-old carpenter and rancher has spent the past three days cutting a path to his barn with a chain saw to reach his horses and mules.

Whorton was among 62,844 Oklahoma electric customers still without power a week after an ice storm whipped through the nation's midsection, destroying hundreds of power poles and transmission lines and contributing to 25 deaths in the state, mostly from motor-vehicle accidents.

Oklahomans were bracing for the Friday evening arrival of another winter blast that could dump up to 8 inches of snow and sleet in some areas.

"When that snow hits, it's going to finish us off," said Whorton. In March, a tornado tore through Oaks and several other nearby towns, destroying dozens of homes.

The latest fatalities from the wintry weather that began last weekend were a Coalgate couple who died of smoke inhalation after a propane heater caused a fire in their trailer.

"Unfortunately, the worst may not be over," said Gov. Brad Henry.

The weather service issued winter storm watches or warnings for most counties in Oklahoma Friday, saying a strong upper level storm will combine with cold air and Gulf moisture to produce impressive snow and sleet accumulations over much of Oklahoma Friday and Saturday.

The weather service said the heavy snow will make travel "very hazardous or impossible" and could lead some structures, including large, flat roofs, to fail.

However, major new ice accumulations were not expected.

"It may be easier to deal with than the ice storm, but it will still be treacherous out there," said Ray Sondag, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tulsa.

The ice from the previous storm continued its slow thaw Friday, causing even more electrical transmission lines to give way, utility officials said.

In hard-hit McAlester, the number of homes and businesses without power rose to 12,000 when seven wooden structures supporting a transmission line collapsed late Thursday. At one point this week, that number had fallen below 10,000, and it had fallen to 11,139 by late Friday. There are 18,000 people in the southeastern Oklahoma town.

"There are going to be continued setbacks along the road to recovery," said Stan Whiteford with Public Service Company of Oklahoma. "We'll see jumps in numbers where they'll spike back up during the day."

Homeless shelters, where resources such as gloves and blankets were already in short supply because of the ice storm, braced for the next batch of nasty weather.

"We're packed to the gills," said the Rev. Steve Whitaker, executive director of the John 3:16 Mission in Tulsa. "This has been a tough ride for the homeless."

On Thursday, Henry requested a major federal disaster declaration, which would make people in hard-hit counties eligible for housing grants and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses. He had already declared a state of emergency.

"The ice storm has devastated a number of communities, and the people are going to need all the help they can get to rebuild their lives," he said.

The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management was hoping to complete a preliminary damage assessment by Saturday and was sending teams to work with local officials in McIntosh, Muskogee and Pittsburg counties to see the hardest hit areas, said spokeswoman Michelann Ooten.

"They'll be seeing a sampling of the damage, there's a lot of the damage we can't get to," Ooten said. "The roads are impassable in some areas.

"We're looking to get a feel for how much of that damage is uninsured. Federal assistance is for uninsured damages."

The Federal Emergency Management Agency brought 100 generators to Oklahoma, with most being used to provide temporary power to shelters and hospitals. FEMA has also provided truckloads of drinking water.

The American Red Cross said more than 1,000 people were using shelters it had set up throughout eastern Oklahoma.

Rose resident Belinda Gamble hasn't had power since January 12 and is relying on two ceramic gas heaters to warm her house. She's hoping to get her power back on by the weekend.

"It's 61 or 62 degrees," said Gamble, 57, "It's not too bad once you get used to it."